Bilateral contact not ruled out as Chinese, Japanese FMs attend trilateral meeting

BEIJING, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign minister Wang Yi may have bilateral contact with his Japanese counterpart Fumio Kishida as the two will attend a trilateral meeting between China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea (ROK), a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday.

The Eighth China-Japan-ROK foreign ministers' meeting will be held in in Tokyo on Wednesday and Wang will attend the meeting upon invitation, spokesperson Lu Kang said.

Lu said it is quite normal for parties to have some contact and exchanges during multilateral occasions.

Regardless of the opposition from regional neighbors and the international community, Japan has been known to hype up the South China Sea issue, Lu said.

Wang will state China's solemn position on the issue and urge Japan to bring bilateral ties back on a healthy, stable track, Lu said.